


Homebound

by khaleesiofalicante



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Malec AUs, i think so, malec fake dating, protective alec is my aesthetic, worldest shortest fake dating au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 23:16:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20182354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khaleesiofalicante/pseuds/khaleesiofalicante
Summary: World's shortest malec fake dating au.





	Homebound

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this while I was at the airport.
> 
> Thank you, my precious malec - for making that unnecessary transit bearable. 
> 
> Happy reading, yall! :)

Five hours. His flight has been delayed by five fucking hours.

Magnus has been counting the minutes till he gets back home to Brooklyn. Don’t get him wrong, London was all good and fun. He was more than happy to spend the summer with Ragnor, even though the grumpy bastard was…well, grumpy the whole time. It felt so refreshing to meet up with old friends no matter how much they criticized your latest fashion choices.

London, despite its metropolitan nature with a touch of rustic beauty was no Brooklyn. Magnus indeed loved its pleasant company, ancient history and sexy accent, but he had to admit that he missed home more than he thought he would. He missed the unapologetic strangers in the subway, the overpriced Starbucks with the tired baristas and the bacon cheeseburgers from the east village. More than anything else, he missed the loft.

So, sue him when he swore loudly when the man behind the counter informed him that his flight was delayed by another five hours.

Upon realizing that there is nothing he could do about his current predicament, he decided that he should just find a quiet spot (not exactly possible in Heathrow but a man can dream) to binge something on Netflix. He was wondering if he should watch a sitcom or a drama when he saw her.

For the love of all of the demons in hell, could this day get any worse?

She was standing there in a red dress, with her long legs and cold heart - wearing high heels with tiny red straps that went perfectly with her outfit. Her long, dark hair was flowing beautifully from side to side even though there was no wind inside the airport.

Magnus wished he could say that his involvement with Camille was just a fling and the sight of her meant nothing to him - But that would be an absolute and utter lie. He spent most of his early twenties loving, breaking up and getting back together with Camille. The whole relationship – if one could call it that – had been a whirlwind romance. Magnus had been taken with her the moment he laid eyes on her at the charity auction. He had genuinely believed that she would be it. But boy was he wrong.

The entire relationship had been nothing but toxic. After a long list of failed relationships, he had thought that Camille would be the one to change his disastrous dating history. But as fate would have it, she had been the worst of them all. During the entire five years, she had been nothing but chaos to his thoughts and poison to his heart.

He really didn’t want to think about what she had done for two reasons. First of all, he knew that he still hasn’t quite healed from that particular heartbreak. Secondly and most importantly, five hours wasn’t enough to reminisce on all the shit she has put him through during their time together.

It took him two years and three good friends to move on from all the drama and heartache. He knew for a fact that running into Camille would only bring up all the bad memories to the surface again.

Well…Not today, Satan.

To his disappointment and horror, he realized that he had to walk past her to get to his gate.

God, whoever she is, really hated him.

Maybe he should just walk out of the airport and come back later? Or better yet, he should just go back to Ragnor’s. The thought of Ragnor brought back the words his oldest friend had told him a couple of years ago when Magnus was desperately and unsuccessfully trying to move on from Camille.

_“She is only as powerful as you believe her to be. Don’t give her the power. You have given her enough, old friend.”_

As much as he hated admitting it, he realized that Ragnor was right – as usual. He has given enough of himself to this vicious woman. He wasn't going to do it again.

So, he decided to do what any other reasonable adult would do in his situation. He took off his silver scarf, covered his face and started speed walking toward the gate.

He knew it must look ridiculous, but he really didn’t care. A few judgmental stares were nothing compared to the agony of talking to the devil in red.

Just a little bit more and he will be safe from…

“Magnus, baby! Is that you?”

Well, fuck.

Why? Why can’t he have good things in life?

“I knew it was you,” she beamed as she walked towards him with an unnecessary sway in her hips, “Only you could pull off a silver scarf with a gold shirt.”

While she did have an excellent point, now was not the time to exchange compliments about each other’s sense of fashion. Now was the time to…well, get the fuck out of here.

“Camille,” he said as politely as could, “What a pleasure to run into you.”

It really wasn’t.

“What are you doing in London, baby? I hope you are not here to waste your time with that old asshole you call a friend,” Camille asked.

Nah-uh. Not happening. Only he gets to call Ragnor an old asshole.

“Actually, I am leaving to New York. I did indeed spend the entire summer with Ragnor. I had a great time,” he replied honestly and defensively.

He had spent half the summer with squabbling with Ragnor about almost everything as they are two people who never agreed on anything at all. But he had enjoyed the familiarity of it all and he was not ashamed to admit it.

“Are you here alone?” Camille asked.

She has never had any respect for other people’s privacy. Before he could tell her that he was here alone and that there was nothing wrong with that, Camille had come to her own conclusions.

“Oh baby. You still haven’t moved on, have you? You poor thing” she cooed. She actually fucking cooed.

It was true that he hasn’t really been with anyone after Camille, at least not seriously. While it was partly because of what she had done, it was mostly because of him. He was really fucking tired. He was tired of looking for someone to love and someone to love him back just as much. He wondered whether he had given up on love all together.

He hated the fact that even after all these years; Camille knew exactly which buttons to push. She knew how to make him feel small and insecure.

_“She is only as powerful as you believe her to be.”_

During their entire relationship, Camille had won. Relationships are not supposed to be a competition and there shouldn’t have been a winner or a loser but somehow he knew that Camille had won and he had lost over and over until he had given up.

Magnus has had enough. She wasn’t going to win today.

“Actually, I am here with my boyfriend,” he lied without hesitation.

If he had learned one thing from Camille during their disastrous relationship, it was how to lie through your teeth without feeling a hint of guilt. He wasn’t really proud of himself for picking up that horrible habit, but right now he needed it.

“Oh! Is that so?” Camille inquired with a disbelieving tone.

“Yes. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to my man,” he announced and walked toward the gate in a rush.

He let out the deep breath that he didn’t know he was holding.

Thank god. That was close.

He went through security and finally got to gate. He looked around the boarding area for a quiet spot and found what he was looking for. The area was empty except for a man who was intensely looking at something on his tab.

Magnus sat opposite the other man, who was still busy on his tab, and settled down to start his Netflix binge. The whole _Mission: Escape Vermillion Vulture_ had cost him half an hour. So, he only had to spend four and half hours more at the airport. 

He spent the next half hour trying to choose something to watch. When he finally decided that he should start on the Good Place, which came with the rare but precious “Approved by Catarina Loss” stamp, he heard the familiar and dreadful click-clacking of high heels.

“There you are,” she said with that annoying smirk on her face. It was a look only Disney villains – and Camille of course – could pull off.

“How did you get through security?” Magnus asked.

“Oh, I have my ways,” Camille winked.

Of course she does. She always knew how to manipulate people and the security staff at Heathrow are apparently no different from anyone else.

“So, where is this “man” of yours?” she asked looking around with mock excitement.

This is exactly why Catarina has told him not to lie. He has never been a good liar. 

“I thought you would be all over each other considering you practically ran to him,” she continued.

Damn it. He should have just moonwalked back to Ragnor’s apartment.

“Or were you running away from me?...Again,” she added after pausing for effect. 

He wanted to ask Siri 'what does one do when they run into their evil ex-girlfriend, according to whom he was supposed to be canoodling with his boyfriend'. But he couldn’t get to his phone because he was sort of paralyzed by the medusa in front of him. He also wanted to ask Siri what exactly canoodling meant. 

“Oh, Magnus,” she sighed dramatically. “Did you lie about having a boyfriend to get away from me?”

Before he could say anything back, she sat next to him and gently patted him on the cheek like she would do to a wounded animal, “Baby, that is just sad.”

He was about to ask her to fuck off back to hell when a sharp and authoritative voice said, “Excuse me, can I help you?”

They both looked at the man sitting in front of them - His face now looking up at them not at his tab.

And what a face it was! He had gorgeous dark hair that looked stylishly messy. But for some reason he knew that it wasn’t style but rather his lack of concern that made the other man’s hair look that way. He was wearing a grey sweater and black slacks. He looked so incredibly…mundane. But Magnus couldn’t help but sense the angelic fury underneath his hazel eyes, which were glaring at Camille at the moment.

Right, Camille. Yes. He had to deal with her first. He can appreciate fine art later.

“Who are you?” Camille asked with a bored tone.

“I am his boyfriend,” the man stated very matter of factly.

Wait, what?

He was as shocked as Camille at the revelation, although he managed to mask his expression quickly.

“Excuse me?” Camille asked again.

“I said I am his boyfriend,” the hazel eyed man repeated again.

“Then why are you sitting over there instead of sitting next to your boyfriend?” Camille said with a ‘gotcha’ tone in her face.

It was so Camille to expect a person to be glued to their significant other every single second. Magnus, for the millionth time, wondered why ever dated this woman.

“As you can see, I am charging my tab since I am working on something important,” the man pointed at the socket next to him. "And unlike some people, my boyfriend understands the meaning of personal space."

Well, damn.

Magnus has never been more attracted to another person.

"Magnus, are you dating this man?" Camille peered at him.

"Yes. Yes, I am." He replied without hesitation. The other man smiled at that and Magnus realised that he loved being the reason behind that smile.

"How long have you been dating?" Camille continued her shameless interrogation.

"Just a few weeks," Magnus said quickly. He didn't want the other man to continue to lie for him. It wasn't really fair.

"And you two are already travelling the world together?" Camille scoffed.

"What can I say? Magnus is quite magical," Mr. Tall, Dark and handsome shrugged.

Magnus actually fucking blushed at the sound of his name in the other man's lips. 

"You expect me to buy this bullshit?" Camille fumed at the other man.

"Listen, lady. We have nothing to prove to you. Now, if you'll excuse us, we'd like some privacy," the other man said as he removed his charger and walked over to Magnus and sat right next to him.

"This is not gonna last, Magnus!" Camille said furiously, "You are gonna come running back to me soon enough."

"Camille, you should really stop saying such things. It's gonna be really awkward when you come to our wedding" Magnus said cheekily.

Camille stood up all of a sudden and walked away with an intense pace without looking back. It was one of the most satisfying moments in his life.

"Are you okay?" The other man asked immediately after Camille disappeared. The concern in his hazel eyes was so genuine, it warmed Magnus's heart.

"Yes, I'm okay. Thank you. You really didn't have to do that," Magnus said.

This man was really something else and Magnus wished that he had meet him under different circumstances.

"I didn't like the way she spoke to you," the man confessed. "I know it wasn't my place to say anything. I'm sorry if I overstepped."

Why? Why couldn't they meet at the subway or a coffee shop or some other place where people normally run into their soulmates?

"I didn't mind at all. Thank you again. You probably think I must have been insane to date someone like her," Magnus laughed awkwardly.

"Hey, no judgement," the man smiled, " I used to have a crush on my brother so I am not the one to talk."

"Hold on, what now?" Magnus asked.

Please don't be another weirdo. please don't be another weirdo. Please don't be another weirdo.

"Yeah. Strict parents, respectful family, eldest son, heir to the business, internalised homophobia," the other man explained.

He didn't have to elaborate any further. Magnus knew all about the self stigma and discrimination that stems from trying to meet the unrealistic and unacceptable expectations of family and society.

"I'm sorry," Magnus said, not knowing what else to say.

"Don't worry about it. It's all good," the man said cheerfully, "I am actually going back home after visiting my brother."

"Oh, so you were here in London alone then?" Magnus asked, hoping he didn't sound too obvious.

"Yeah. I was also here for some work. My brother is running a branch of our company in London. I just came here to make sure everything was running smoothly. It was actually an excuse to visit him," he laughed.

They continued to talk about their time in London and got into a discussion about their shared love for traveling. He realised that he had been speaking to the other man for almost four hours when they were rudely interrupted by the announcement, which said that they had to board the plane.

They walked together, continuing their conversation about this and that. Magnus mentally self-fived himself when he found out that he was sitting next to the handsome man in business class.

They spoke more during their entire way back to New York. The other man spoke about his family, whom he seemed to loved so passionately. His eyes lit up every time he mentioned his siblings. He spoke about his job, with so much pride. Unlike most people, he managed to explain what he does without sounding boastful or narcissistic. He spoke about his friends, with a little exasperation when he talked about someone called Simone.

In return, he told the other man about his work at the hospital, his friends whom he considered family, he spoke about his love for fashion.

To say that he was ecstatic when he found that they lived not far away from each other would be a massive understatement.

Magnus realised that neither of them slept through the long flight because they spoke so much. They spoke for hours and yet when they landed in New York, he felt like they haven't spoken nearly enough. The other man was incredibly easy to talk to even thought they had only met a few hours ago.

They got through immigration quietly and went to collect their baggage when the other man suddenly said "Listen, I know this is very random and you are probably gonna say no, but I know that I will definitely regret it if I don't ask."

"What is it?" Magnus asked, heart in his throat.

"I know we talked a lot. I don't think I have ever talked to anyone this much. Not even to my siblings. But I'd love to talk to you some more. Maybe over some Starbucks coffee and bacon cheese burgers from the east village? Hopefully, without the interruption of evil exes"

"I would love that," Magnus confessed. The tall man's response was a brilliant grin that lit up his whole face and Magnus realised he was a goner.

They got a taxi from the airport together and the other man dropped him off in front of his building. He even helped Magnus with his luggage - which was massive but was necessary to maintain his standards. Of course, hazel eyes knew Magnus is strong enough and is more than capable of taking care of his own luggage. Magnus noticed the other man staring at his biceps more than once. But the stranger still helped him out with the luggage because that's the kind of person he was. It was only when they quickly exchanged numbers did Magnus realise something - something important.

"Oh my God! I totally forgot to ask your name," Magnus exclaimed staring at the contact list in his phone, feeling like an idiot.

The other man laughed again and his hazel eyes did the crinkly thing which reminded Magnus why he had been so distracted.

"It's Alec," the other man offered, "But I guess you can save it as _boyfriend_ \- You know, just in case, your crazy ex goes through your phone or something.”

"Will do, Alexander," he replied as he typed the word 'boyfriend' into his phone.

God, whoever she was, maybe didn't hate him that much. 

**Author's Note:**

> So, apparently I don't know what 'short' means?
> 
> Sue me, I like writing about these dorks.
> 
> Fun fact: To help airline passengers deal with travel anxiety, San Francisco International Airport has hired the nation’s first airport therapy pig. LiLou wears costumes and performs tricks to help travelers calm down before boarding their flights.


End file.
